Horton Plains National Park, Sri Lanka

Just an hour outside of Nuwara Eliya, the national park has no public transportation. Most of the people go by tuk-tuk or car/van organized by the hotels/hostels.

We went with our hostel owner in the auto and had to leave at 5:30AM to get there for sunrise.

I believe its a 7 – 9miles loop. Usually the drivers wait outside and you have to pay the entrance fee and get into the park through a single line.

They check your belongings and remove plastic bags, covers, wraps from your food to make sure the park is not poluted. But they give brown bags to keep your things. Plan accordingly if you can.

The hike was relatively easy. Just some rolling hills with few short uphills. There isn’t much to see/do in the park, besides the designated such as Worlds End, where the entire crowd tries to go for.

The picture above is the view from World’s End. Basically on a clear day, you can see the villages of in the valley.

Next stop the Baker’s Falls is nice and worth getting to. Its hard to get into the water, but it’s worth the hike.

Along the way back to the park entrance there are small pools, streams and wide open space around you. Having been spoiled by American national parks, its an OK park to visit. But again, you got to enjoy the country for what it has to offer.

We finished the walk/hike in 4 hours with plenty of breaks. Pack breakfast and water. There are few restrooms (dirty however) in the park. Do pack toilet paper if you don’t mind going into the wilderness.